BLEACHING: Bleaching is a last option if the stain does not respond to either dry cleaning or wet cleaning. Normal 3% hydrogen peroxide bleach, available at grocery and medicine stores, is the easiest to use. But it is ideal to test the bleach first on an unexposed piece of the material. Pour some bleach on the sample piece of fabric. Just wait 5 minutes for a reaction. Most of the white fabrics comprise an optical brightener that will turn yellow when bleached. Very bright-colored fabrics may contain optical brightening agents as well; a bleach may turn these colors dull.
RUST STAINS: Rust stains should be treated with great care. You can get Rust removers from grocery stores. Please use them only on washable fabrics or garments so they can be laundered instantly afterward. Laundering will rinse out the rust remover. In case if it is not removed, it can burn the skin. Do not use a rust remover on any garment which contains metallic threads.
TOUGH STAINS: Most of the times stains don’t lend themselves to home methods. Most medicine stains, adhesives, fingernail polish, & paint are hard to remove and should be taken to an expert dry cleaner.
DON’T WAIT: All stains must be removed before they have time to set. Heat & time can set stains. Even an expert dry cleaner will find it hard to the stain out if he or she doesn’t receive the fabric soon after the stain occurred.
DELICATE FABRICS: Do not attempt home stain removal on furs, vinyl, leather, suede, fabrics which are heavily sized like taffeta and organdy, nets, satins, and those with colors that bleed easily.
INVISIBLE STAINS: Most of the fruit juices and drinks vanish into the fabric and leave no visible stain, but the sugars are deposited there. The dry-cleaning fluid does not dissolve them. Heat makes it brown causing a stain which is hard to remove. If you spill soda or juice on a fabric, flush it out instantly with water – even though the stain is invisible. For more expert advice, ask us, we’re always happy to help.
